Mirador Zapata

Overview

About Mirador Zapata

Why stop

A broad panorama of Pingo and Zapata glaciers.

Heads up

The 2026 park map calls for an accredited guide.

Map

Where it is

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Full map

SightMirador Zapata-51.08714, -73.26832

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Plan your stop

Before you go

Getting there

The walk begins at Grey Checkpoint and follows the Pingo Valley route. It crosses peat bog and a stream, passes thorny scrub and a detour to Pingo Waterfall, then reaches the former refuge site before continuing to the viewpoint. The 2026 park route map marks the Zapata trail as requiring an accredited guide; confirm current access rules and trail status with CONAF before planning. No food or built visitor services are listed at the viewpoint.

2 active Torres del Paine alerts

ClosureInternal Y-150 road closedThe internal Y-150 road between Sarmiento and Laguna Los Cisnes is closed. - This is the internal road segment; CONAF lists the separate Y-150 access road to Sarmiento as open.Official details
CautionOne-way and guide-only trail restrictionsPlan around CONAF’s current one-way and guide-only trail restrictions.Official details

Torres del Paine alerts

A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone — Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Torres del Paine Tour Guide

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Guide

More about Mirador Zapata

The glacier panoramaMirador Zapata is a remote viewpoint at the end of the Pingo Valley, reached on foot beyond the…

Mirador Zapata is a remote viewpoint at the end of the Pingo Valley, reached on foot beyond the former Zapata refuge. The open view takes in Pingo and Zapata glaciers, with Paine Grande nearby. Go for the broad glacial valley, not a quick roadside stop.

A valley shaped by iceThe broad plains around the viewpoint were shaped by glacier flow and retreat.

The broad plains around the viewpoint were shaped by glacier flow and retreat. Pingo and Zapata glaciers descend from Campo de Hielo Sur (the Southern Patagonian Ice Field), with Paine Grande close to the skyline. For a photo, keep the open plain in frame with the ice; it shows the scale of the landscape.

Along the approachThe peat-bog stretch is a chance to spot huemul, though they are not guaranteed.

The peat-bog stretch is a chance to spot huemul, though they are not guaranteed. The route also passes the site of the old Zapata refuge, which burned in a fire. The refuge site is a waypoint; the named viewpoint lies farther along the route.

Wildlife

Wildlife in Torres del Paine

All Torres del Paine wildlife maps

113 sightingsPumaMost seen around 7 PMSighting map

146 sightingsAndean CondorMost seen around noonSighting map

381 sightingsGuanacoMost seen around 7 AMSighting map

53 sightingsHuemulMost seen around 7 AMSighting map

36 sightingsLesser RheaMost seen around 6 PMSighting map

11 sightingsWild HorseMost seen around 7 AMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Torres del Paine. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.